The Indians Have Arrived

One can no longer crow ‘The Indians are coming, the Indians are coming.’ Heck, the Indians have arrived with a bang. A very big bang. And their presence in America can’t get any bigger, or can it? Try topping this — last week, two amazing success stories hit the headlines on consecutive days. Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande was officially anointed the ‘Wealthiest Indian in the World’. And how wealthy was that? How about $3.3 billion (Rs 14,000 crore) for starters? And still counting, say those who monitor techie stocks. For all that, ‘Desh’ sounds like a regular fellow — the nerd from Dharwar who has made good (and how). In a scoop interview carried by this very paper, Desh when asked about his stupendous success in an alien country, replied simply: ‘‘We Indians have an advantage in terms of out-of-box thinking. We come from a different culture and we look at things differently.’’

If someone had hit me over the head with either ‘Desh’ Deshpande’s name or that of his one-year-old company (Sycamore), I wouldn’t have blinked. ‘Desh’ who? Sycamore what? Today, I know better. And so does the rest of India, and the world. We are talking serious money here.

A few thousand miles from Silicon Valley, another Indian and coincidentally, another IIT alumnus, was also making major waves in New York. Arun Netravalli from Mumbai was appointed president of Bell Labs, one of the world’s leading research and development organisations. In this case, I took more than just a passing interest in the story. Mr Netravalli happens to be married to my cousin Chitra. Never mind that we wouldn’t be able to recognise one another if we met (she has been away for 25 years). But the tenuous family connection still remains. I remember when Chitra was to marry. An arranged match, of course. The family had checked the groom-to-be’s antecedents with care (she’s the only daughter with two older brothers) and Netravalli, from Matunga, had been declared a suitable enough boy for the young girl.

Coming from a modest background, but armed with a degree from one of India’s premier institutes, it was believed the young man had a reasonably bright future. Who could have imagined then what exactly that future was. Or how glorious? At 53, he becomes the ninth president of Bell Labs which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary next year. Great timing. Great honour. And what did he have to say about his new appointment? Like ‘Desh’ Deshpande, Netravalli’s response was measured and charming: ‘‘The prospect is both electrifying and a bit daunting.’’

Two remarkable Indians have sky-rocketed to positions of power, fame and money in the same week. Both men come from comparable backgrounds. Both share a common, middle-class upbringing. Both are married to professionals (Deshpande’s wife is an IIT graduate herself and Netravalli’s a pediatrician).

Is that nothing more than a coincidence? I think not. Their success has to do with the early environment they were raised in. What cannot be doubted or challenged is the fact that it needed America to provide the stimulus that saw them realise their full (and incredible) potential. Who knows what might have transpired had they stayed back in India and plodded on? One can merely guess. Today, they are counted amongst the world’s major players. Deshpande’s 3 billion plus cannot be sneezed at by even the big boys of the billionaire’s club. Netravalli’s appointment will ensure a prominent place for the technology management expert in the international pantheon of techno greats.

It is individuals like them who do India proud. And yet, it is India that is the slowest to recognise these sons of the soil who keep the country’s flag flying high. Most of us still don’t know what the two of them look like. And they themselves haven’t bothered to hire high-powered PR people to promote them. Good. With achievements like theirs, they don’t need cheap publicity. Their impressive track record is enough to do all the talking.

Deshpande and Netravalli. What a week it has been. And yet, we might not have known about these breakthroughs, had wire services not flashed the news to local papers. Even after that, there hasn’t been any real excitement in the media. I guess we’ve all been much too busy monitoring the machinations of assorted mediocre ministers who have a more direct control over our collective destiny.